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1Lesson25DotheEnglishspeakEnglish?英国人讲的是英语吗?IarrivedinLondonatlast.我终于到了伦敦。Therailwaystationwasbig,blackanddark.火车站很大，又黑又暗。Ididnotknowthewaytomyhotel,我不知道去饭店的路该怎么走，soIaskedaporter.于是向一个搬运工打听。InotonlyspokeEnglishverycarefully,我的英语讲得不但非常认真，butveryclearlyaswell.而且咬字也非常清楚。Theporter,however,couldnotunderstandme;然而搬运工却不明白我的话。Irepeatedmyquestionseveraltimesandatlastheunderstood.我把问话重复了很多遍。他终于听懂了。Heansweredme,他回答了，buthespokeneitherslowlynorclearly.但他讲得既不慢也不清楚。‘Iamaforeigner,'Isaid.“我是个外国人”，我说。Thenhespokeslowly,于是他说得慢了，butIcouldnotunderstandhim.可我还是听不懂。MyteacherneverspokeEnglishlikethat!我的老师从来不那样讲英语！TheporterandIlookedateachotherandsmiled.我和搬运工相视一笑。ThenhesaidsomethingandIunderstoodit.接着，他说了点什么，这回我听懂了。‘You'llsoonlearnEnglish!'hesaid.“您会很快学会英语的！”他说。Iwonder.InEngland,eachmanspeaksadifferentlanguage.我感到奇怪。在英国，人们各自说着一种不同的语言。TheEnglishunderstandeachother,英国人之间相互听得懂，butIdon'tunderstandthem!可我却不懂他们的话！DotheyspeakEnglish?他们说的是英语吗？2Lesson26Thebestartcritics最佳美术评论家IamanartstudentandIpaintalotofpictures.我是个学艺术的学生，画了很多画。Manypeoplepretendthattheyunderstandmodernart.有很多人装成很懂现代艺术的样子，Theyalwaystellyouwhatapictureis'about'.总是告诉你一幅画的“意思”是什么。Ofcourse,manypicturesarenot‘about'anything.当然，有很多画是什么“意思”也没有的。Theyarejustprettypatterns.它们就是些好看的图案，Weliketheminthesamewaythatwelikeprettycurtainmaterial.我们喜爱它们就像我们喜欢漂亮的窗帘布一样。Ithinkthatyoungchildrenoftenappreciatemodernpicturesbetterthananyoneelse.我觉得小孩子们往往比任何人都更能欣赏现代绘画，Theynoticemore.他们观察到的东西更多。Mysisterisonlyseven,我的妹妹只有7岁，butshealwaystellsmewhethermypicturesaregoodornot.但她总能说出我的画是好还是坏。Shecameintomyroomyesterday.昨天她到我房里来了。‘Whatareyoudoing?'sheasked.“你在干什么呢？”她问。‘I'mhangingthispictureonthewall,'“我正把这幅画挂到墙上去。”Ianswered.'It'sanewone.Doyoulikeit?'我回答说，“这是幅新画，你喜欢吗？”Shelookedatitcriticallyforamoment.她用挑剔的目光看了一会儿。‘It'sallright,'shesaid,“还可以吧。”她说，‘butisn'titupsidedown?'“不过，是不是挂倒了？”Ilookedatitagain.我再次看了看画。Shewasright!Itwas!她说对了！是挂倒了！3Lesson27Awetnight雨夜Lateintheafternoon,傍晚时分，theboysputuptheirtentinthemiddleofafield.孩子们在田野中央搭起了帐篷。Assoonasthiswasdone,这件事刚刚做完，theycookedamealoveranopenfire.他们就在篝火上烧起了饭。Theywereallhungryandthefoodsmelledgood.他们全都饿了，饭菜散发出阵阵香味。Afterawonderfulmeal,他们美美地吃了一顿饭后，theytoldstoriesandsangsongsbythecampfire.就围在营火旁讲起了故事，唱起了歌。Butsometimelateritbegantorain.但过了一阵子，天下起雨来，Theboysfelttiredsotheyputoutthefireandcreptintotheirtent.于是他们扑灭了篝火，钻进了帐篷。Theirsleepingbagswerewarmandcomfortable,睡袋既暖和又舒服，sotheyallsleptsoundly.所以，他们都睡得很香。Inthemiddleofthenight,午夜前后，twoboyswokeupandbeganshouting.有两个孩子醒了，大声叫了起来。Thetentwasfullofwater!原来帐篷里到处都是水！Theyallleaptoutoftheirsleepingbagsandhurriedoutside.他们全都跳出睡袋，跑到外面。Itwasrainingheavilyandtheyfoundthatastreamhadformedinthefield.雨下得很大，他们发现地上已经形成了一条小溪。Thestreamwounditswayacrossthefieldandthenflowedrightundertheirtent!那小溪弯弯曲曲穿过田野，然后正好从他们的帐篷底下流过去！4Lesson28Noparking禁止停车JasperWhiteisoneofthoserarepeoplewhobelievesinancientmyths.贾斯珀·怀特是少有的相信古代神话的人之一。Hehasjustboughtanewhouseinthecity,他刚在城里买下一所新房子，buteversincehemovedin,但自从搬进去后，hehashadtroublewithcarsandtheirowners.就和汽车及车主们发生了摩擦。whenhereturnshomeatnight,当他夜里回到家时，healwaysfindsthatsomeonehasparkedacaroutsidehisgate.总是发现有人把车停在他家大门外。Becauseofthis,为此，hehasnotbeenabletogethisowncarintohisgarageevenonce.他甚至一次也没能把自己的车开进车库。Jasperhasputup'NoParking'signsoutsidehisgate,贾斯珀曾把几块“禁止停车”的牌子挂在大门外边，butthesehavenothadanyeffect.但没有任何效果。Nowhehasputanuglystoneheadoverthegate.现在他把一个丑陋的石雕头像放在了大门上边，ItisoneoftheugliestfacesIhaveeverseen.这是我见过的最丑陋的头像之一。IaskedhimwhatitwasandhetoldmethatitwasMedusa,theGorgon.我问他那是什么?他告诉我那是蛇发女怪美杜莎。Jasperhopesthatshewillturncarsandtheirownerstostone.贾斯珀希望她把汽车和车主们都变成石头。Butnoneofthemhasbeenturnedtostoneyet!但到目前为止还没有一个人变成石头呢！5Lesson29Taxi!出租汽车CaptainBenFawcetthasboughtanunusualtaxiandhasbegunanewservice.BenFawcett机长买了一辆不同寻常的出租汽车，并开始了一项新的业务。The'taxi'isasmallSwissaeroplanecalleda'PilatusPorter'.这辆“出租汽车”是一架小型瑞士飞机，叫“PilatusPorter”号。Thiswonderfulplanecancarrysevenpassengers.这架奇妙的飞机可以载7名乘客。Themostsurprisingthingaboutit,最令人惊奇的是，however,isthatitcanlandanywhere:它能够在任何地方降落：onsnow,water,orevenonaploughedfield.雪地上，水面上，甚至刚耕过的田里。CaptainFawcett'sfirstpassengerwasadoctorwhoflewfromBirminghamtoalonelyvillageintheWelshmountains.Fawcett机长的第一名乘客是位医生，他从Birmingham飞往Welsh山区一个偏僻的村庄。Sincethen,CaptainFawcetthasflownpassengerstomanyunusualplaces.从那时开始，Fawcett机长已经载送乘客到过许多不寻常的地方。Oncehelandedontheroofofablockofflatsandonanotheroccasion,helandedinadesertedcarpark.一次，他把飞机降落在了一栋公寓楼的屋顶上；还有一次，降落在了一个废弃的停车场上。CaptainFawcetthasjustrefusedastrangerequestfromabusinessman.Fawcett机长刚刚拒绝了一位商人的奇怪请求。ThemanwantedtoflytoRockall,alonelyislandintheAtlanticOcean,这个人想要飞往大西洋上的一个孤岛——Rockall，butCaptainFawcettdidnottakehimbecausethetripwastoodangerous.Fawcett机长之所以不送他去，是因为那段飞行太危险了。6Lesson30Footballorpolo?足球还是水球?TheWayleisasmallriverthatcutsacrosstheparknearmyhome.Wayle是横穿过我家附近公园的一条小河。IlikesittingbytheWayleonfineafternoons.我喜欢在天气晴朗的下午到河边坐坐。ItwaswarmlastSunday,上星期日天气很暖和。soIwentandsatontheriverbankasusual.于是我和往常一样，又去河边坐着。Somechildrenwereplayinggamesonthebankandthereweresomepeoplerowingontheriver.河岸上有些孩子正在玩耍，河面上有些人正在划船。Suddenly,oneofthechildrenkickedaballveryhardanditwenttowardsapassingboat.